Collating machine with sheet aligning means



Nov. 9, 196s Y L. W. FLORA 3,216,719

COLLATING MACHINE WITH SHEET ALIGNING MEANS ATTORNEY Nov. 9, 1965 l.. w. FLORA 3,216,719

GOLLATING MACHINE WITH SHEET ALIGNING MEANS Filed June 11, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENToR. F|G- 2 LELAND w FLORA ATTGRNEY Nov. 9, 1965 L. W. FLORA 3,216,719

COLLATING MAcHINE WITH SHEET ALIGNING MEANS Filed June 11, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 ATTORNEY Nov. 9, 1965 L.. w. FLORA 3,216,719

COLLATING MACHINE WITH SHEET ALIGNING MEANS Filed June 11, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 WG La FIG. 4 glnlmuulmllul v :m:::::am:nnm::::. INVENTOR. ml Il I u nlm I l lm la BY LELAND W. FLORA HMB* L HG.

U ATTORNEY Nav. 9, 1965 LV1/.FLORA 3,216,719

COLLATING MACHINE WITH SHEET ALIGNING MEANS Filed June 11, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 5

INVENTOR. LELAND W. FLORA ATTORNEY Nov. 9, 1965 1 w. FLQRA 3,216,719

COLLATING MACHINE WITH SHEET ALIGNIING MEANS Filed June 11, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 FIG. 8

g: l l I IE 23o 17a :i 232 FIG. 9

"'220 INVENTOR.

2I2 ZIB LELAND W. FLORA BY FIG. IO y W ATTORNEY nited States Patent 3,216,719 COLLATING MACHINE WITH SHEET ALIGNING MEANS Leland W. Flora, 164 E. Main St., Webster, N.Y. Filed June 11, 1962, Ser. No. 201,625 Claims. (Cl. 270-58) The present invention relates to a novel sheet collating machine, and more particularly to a novel collating machine for feeding and assemblying paper sheets in a sequentially correlated order, stitching, or stapling the assembled sheets together to form successive booklets, or pamphlets, and delivering the finished booklets, or pamphlets to a receptacle.

AThere are many publications of relatively small circulation of, say, a few thousand copies or so, or of infrequent issue, such that their publishers cannot make economic use of Vlarge-scale machinery for continuous web printing, folding and collating, such as used by the newspaper industry. .Sheet collating machines of various different designs are Vcurrently available on the market for publications of this'type, but none of them is entirely satisfactory for collating relatively large numbers of copies. Many of the machines are relatively complex and expensive. They do not have capacity for a sufficient number of sheets inpeach sheet magazine to accommodate an issue `of several thousand copies, with the result that such machines must be stopped and reloaded at relatively frequent intervalsduring a run.

Accordingly, one important object of the present invention is to provide a novel collator for assembling separate sheets of paper to produce a finished booklet.

Other objects are: to provide a novel collator having relatively large capacity sheet magazines, thereby to permit a relatively long continuous run before the collator needs to be reloaded; to provide a novel collator of this type having an improved arrangement of magazines rela- .tive toa table along which the sheets are conveyed as `the booklets are being built up, thereby achieving a high degree of efficiency in operation, and compactness of construction; and in general to provide a collating machine of this type .which is relatively simple, compact, convenient ,to use, ecient in operation, and inexpensive to construct,

.yet rugged, dependable and long-lived inservice.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of a representative embodiment thereof, Vtaken in conjunction with the drawings, wherein:

FIG. `1 is a plan View of a collating machine according to a presently preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along `the line 2 2 of FIG. 1, the section being more accurately .of the entire machine.

FIG. 6 (sheet 1) is a schematic, cross-sectional diagram illustrating the sheet feed sequence from the magazines to the central conveyor table of the machine; v LFIG. 7 is an isometric `view of a booklet collated,

jogged, and stitched, or stapled on the machine;

FIG. 8 is a partly schematic, fragmentary, side elevational view of the machine, particularly showing the dellivery drive mechanism apart from other operative portions ofthe machine;

yFIG. 9 is a fragmentary, side elevational View of a 3,215,719 Patented Nov. 1965 portion of the machine showing the indexing drive .for the central conveyor mechanism;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional View showing various ycam drive arrangements in the machine; and

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary, horizontal sectional view showing a portion of the magazine elevator drive arrangement.

Briefly, the collating machine of the present invention includes two banks of separate sheet magazines arranged, respectively, along opposite sides of a central conveyor table. The sheets to be collated are fed from the lmagazines onto the table, rst from one side, then from the other in close succession, the first fed sheets falling beneath the corresponding second ones. A transport mechanism indexes the sheets along the table after each feeding step a distance equal to the on-center spacings between the magazines. Thus, the sheets are deposited in sequence upon each other to form a booklet, or pamphlet.

When the booklets, or pamphlets reach the .end of the main conveyor table, each booklet is passed through a dynamic aligning device, or jogger, which brings the `sheets into alignment Wtih each other. The booklet is then advanced to another station where the sheets are stitched, or stapled together. It is thereupon ejected from the machine into any desired delivery hopper, or receptacle.

One feature of the invention relates to the arrangement of the magazines along both sides of the central table, thereby achieving improved compactness and efficiency, and enabling construction of the machine at relatively low cost.

A second feature pertains to the sheet feed arrangment, which includes relatively high speed rolls for feeding the sheets onto ,the central table at relatively high speed. i Another feature pertains to the construction of the magazines, whereby their capacity is increased relative to the magazines of previous sheet collators. The magazines ,of the collator according to the present invention are relatively deep, and the sheets are supported in the magazines upon platforms, or trays, which are vertically movable. Elevator means are included in the machine for raising the platforms, or trays during operation of the machine as the sheets are fed .out of the magazines lto compensate for the resulting diminutionof the stacksof sheets in the magazines, and to keep vthe top sheets always at a proper height to be fed onto the central table.

The collator of the invention'is relatively compact, highly eftcientand rapid in operation, and because of the arrangement of the sheet magazines, is of relatively large capacity, thereby making it especially suitable for use by so-called neighborhood, or shopping guide publications, which have circulations of several thousand copies per issue, but insuflicient frequency of issue to justify .the use of continuous web equipment.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION FIG. l illustrates the 4general plan of the collator of the present invention, which is shown as including eight sheet magazines Ztl-27. Any desired number of magazines may be included .depending on the required capacity of the collator. In a typical actual collator of the linven- -tion some forty or sixty magazines would ordinarily be ltable 30, and very closely v,thereafter from the magazines 21, 23, 25, and 27 along the oppositeside of the tablev 30, so that the sheets first fed fall underneath the second fed sheets. The sheets are indexed along the central table 30 immediately following each feeding operation by a pair of drive chains 40 and 42, which ride in clots 44 and 46, respectively, in the table 30, and which carry upwardly projecting pusher pins 48 for abuttingly engaging the sheets on the table 30.

The table 30 and the drive chains 40 and 42 extend in the direction of drive, that is, to the right as viewed in FIG. 1, about three magazine lengths beyond the last magazines 26 and 27. After the last sheets of each booklet are fed from the last two magazines 26 and 27, the booklet is indexed to a jogging station 50 immediately beyond the last magazines 26 and 27, where the booklet is jogged against retractable alignment pins 54 (FIG. 5) to even up the sheets. The booklet is then indexed to a second station 52 where it is again jogged, and also stitched, or stapled by a conventional stapler 60. It is then indexed through a delivery chute 58 which constitutes the right-hand end of the table 30 to a delivery fork 62. The fork 62 flips the booklet into a receptacle (not shown).

One important feature of the collator of the invention relates to its relatively large capacity, which permits collating a relatively large number of booklets without the need for reloading the magazines -27. The magazines are made relatively deep, as best shown in FIG. 3. The sheets in each magazine are supported on a vertically movable platform, or tray 64, and means are provided for raising the platforms 64 as the sheets are fed out of the magazines so as to keep the top sheet always at the proper height to be acted on by the feed mechanism, which delivers it to the central table 30.

With this description, the general principles of construetion and operation of the collator of the invention should now be clear. The following description will be directed to the specific mechanisms included in the illustrated embodiment for accomplishing the various different functions and motions.

THE MAIN DRIVE The main drive is taken from a single electric motor 70, FIG. 5, which is mounted beneath the table upon relatively heavy and rigid frame members 72, and which operates continuously, and preferably at relatively constant speed during operation of the collator. The motor 70 is connected through a variable speed clutch 74 to drive a first speed reducer 76, from which three outputs are taken from a common output shaft 78. First, there is a crank 80, which drives a pawl and ratchet arrangement to be described hereinafter for indexing the drive chains and 42 along the table 30. Second, a first cog wheel 82 is fixed on the shaft 78 and connected by a chain 84 to drive an idler shaft 86, from which the drive power is taken for the alignment pins 54 and 56, for the stapler 60, and for the delivery fork 62. And third, a second sprocket 88, also fixed to the shaft 78, is connected by a chain 90 to drive a right-angle drive device 92, the output of which is used to drive the sheet feed pushers 140, and the elevator mecahnism for raising the platforms 64 in the feed magazines 20-27.

A second motor 100, which also operates continuously and preferably at constant speed, dirves the feed rolls 32-38 and the jogger mechanism. A third motor 102 (FIG. 4) is provided for operating the elevator mechanism independently of the rest of the collator for convenience in loading.

THE INDEXING MECHANISM To return first to the indexing mechanism, and referring to FIGS. 4, 5, and 9, the chains 40 and 42 are tensioned between respective pairs of sprockets 104 and 106, which are pivoted by any convenient means beneath the table 30 at opposite respective ends thereof. The sprockets 104 at the left-hand end of the machine as viewed in FIG. 4 are idler sprockets, and the sprockets 106 at the right-hand end of the machine as viewed in FIG. 5 are driven, being fixed on a common shaft 108 to which a smaller sprocket 110 is also fixed. The smaller sprocket 110 is chain-connected to another sprocket 112, which is pivoted beneath the table 30 and beneath the drive sprockets 106. A ratchet wheel 114 (FIG. 9) is fixed coaxially to the other sprocket 112, and is indexed in rotation by a pawl 116, which is pivoted on an arm 118. The arm 118 is rotatable on the shaft 120, that mounts the sprocket 112 and ratchet wheel 114. The pawl 116 is springurged into engagement with the ratchet 114. A connecting rod 122 is pivotally connected at its opposite ends between the outer end of the arm 118 and the crank 80, which is keyed, or otherwise fixed to the output shaft 78 of the speed reducer. Rotation of the crank reciprocates the arm 118 through an angle slightly greater than the angle of the teeth of the ratchet 114, and thereby indexes the ratchet 114, together with the sprocket 112, one step in response to each full rotation of the output shaft 78 of the speed reducer.

The size of the teeth on the ratchet wheel 114, and the sizes of the various sprockets 112, 110, and 106 are selected so that one indexing step of the ratchet wheel 114 produces longitudinal drive of the chains 40 and 42 along the table 30 a distance equal to the on-centers spacings between the successive pairs of the magazines 20-27.

SHEET FEED Two driven feed rolls 32 and 34, respectively, extend along respective opposite sides of the table 30 just above the table and between the table 30 and the magazines 20-27. These feed rolls 32 and 34 are continuously driven at relatively high speed during operation of the machine by the auxiliary motor through a shaft 134 and a belt and pulley arrangement 136 (FIG. 3). Idler rolls 36 and 38 ride in light pressure engagement with the respective driven rolls 32 and 34. A conventional pusher bar 140 rests on top of the top sheet in each one of the magazines 20-27, and is reciprocated laterally to advance the top sheet in each magazine from its retracted position in the magazine to the feed rolls 32-36, which then drive the sheet rapidly onto the table 30. This arrangement minimizes the time required for feeding the sheets outs of the magazines, and thereby permits highly efficient, high speed operation of the collator.

Each one of the pusher bars 140 is fixed at the end of an arm 142 (FIG. 2) which is pivotally connected to a relatively short crank 144. The cranks 144 are fixed to respective longitudinally extending, common shafts 146 and 148, which are journaled above the magazines on upright frame members 150 spaced at intervals along the length of the machine. Additional cranks 152 and 154 are fixed to the respective shafts 146 and 148, and are pivotally connected to push rods 156 and 158, respectively, for reciprocating the shafts 146 and 148 in rotation. The push rods 156 and 158 are pivotally connected at their ends opposite from the cranks 152 and 154 to respective levers 160 and 162, which are springurged into engagement wtih respective cams 164 and 166 fixed to the output shaft 168 of the right-angle drive device 92. The right angle drive device 92 has a oneto-one speed ratio.

The pushers 140 are thus reciprocated back and forth a relatively short distance across the magazines 20-27 once during each rotation of the output shaft 78 of the main speed reducer 76. The cams 164 and 166 are angularly positioned on their shaft 168 so that the push ers 140 start their forward motion, that is toward the table 30, just after the main drive -chains 40 and 42 are indexed. On each stroke toward the central table 30 the pushers 140 deliver the top sheet from each magazine to the respective feed rolls 32-38, which then drive the sheets onto the table 30. Auxiliary stationary guide members 170 (not shown in FIGS. l, 4, or 5) extend from the magazines outwardly over the table 30 to direct the leading edges of the sheets downwardly toward the table as they are fed from the rolls 32-38.

The timing of the pusher operation is adjusted by selection of the angular positions of the cams 164 and 166 and the spacing between them -so that the pushers operate closely after the conveyor chains 40 and 42 index forwardly, and the pushers on one yside of the table 30 operate slightly before the pushers on the opposite side. The sheets from the one side, therefore, fall on the table beneath the sheets from the opposite side, ,as schematically shown in FIG. 6.

MAGAZINE ELEVATOR Referring now to FIG. 3, the sheets in each magazine rest on a separate platform, or tray 64 carried by an L-shaped arm 172, which is fixed to and extends laterally from ,one of two elevator beams 174 and 176, respectively, mounted beneath and at opposite sides of the table 30. The beams 174 and 176 extend along substantially the complete length of the array of magazines -27, and are mounted for smoothly guided vertical travel beneath the table 30. They are connected to chains 178 and 180, respectively, by means of which they are supported and controllably raised and lowered, as desired.

Two alternate drives are provided for the elevator beams 174 and 176. While the machine is collating, the chains 178 and 180 are driven ,through a speed reducer 182 (FIG. 4) and a clutch 184 at a rate equal to the rate of sheet thickness diminution in the magazines so as to keep the t-op sheets in the magazines approximately aligned at a proper level for feeding into the feed rolls 32-38.

At other times such as, for example, when it is desired to prepare the collator for loading, the elevator beams 174 and 176 may be selectively driven upwardly or downwardly by the auxiliary bi-directional motor 102 through a separate clutch 186. The auxiliary motor 102 is connected to the clutch 186 through a separate speed reducer 188, which preferably has a relatively low inputoutput speed ratio relative to the compound speed reduction effected by the main speed reducer 76 and the elevator elevator beams 174 and 176.

JOGGER After the sheets are stacked by the successive sequential feeding from the magazines onto the central table, it is desirable to align the sheets in each stack and to even up their edges before fastening'the sheets together, so that when the sheets are fastened together the resulting booklet will be of neat and trim appearance. After the last sheets have been delivered from the last two magazines 26 and 27, the stacked sheets are advanced to the jogger station 50, where they are driven by the drive pins 48 of the indexing chains up against aligning pins 54, which action tends to align the sheets in the direction of the length of the table 30. The sheets are simultaneously jogged laterally by the jogger mechanism, Vwhich is best shown in FIG. 2. The jogger includes a pair of flanges -190 and 192, which extend along the opposite sides ofthe table 30 at the stations 50 and 52 subsequent to the last magazines 26 and 27, and which constitute continuations of the side rails 194 and 196, respectively, of the table (FIGS. 1 and 3) except that they are separate from and not attached to the table 30 or to the regular side rails 194 and 196. The jogger flanges 190 and 192, as shown, consist of simple angle irons, which rest slidably upon the table 30. They are welded, or otherwise rigidly secured to levers 198 and 199, which extend downwardly from the flanges 190 and 192, respectively, and which are pivoted on brackets 200 and 201 fixed to the frame members 72. The levers 198 and 199 are laterally reciprocated at a relatively rapid rate by push rods 202 and 204, respectively, which are connected between the levers 198 and 199 near the upper ends thereof and eccentrics 206 and 208, respectively. The eccentrics 206 and -208 lare iixed on a shaft 210, which is belt-driven from the motor continuously during operation of the collator. The jogger flanges and 192 Work in opposition to each other, both moving inwardly simultaneously, and simultaneously moving-outwardly, thereby evening up the sheets of the booklet transversely of the table 30, and also loosening them to facilitate longitudinal evening of the sheets by the action of the drive pins 48 pushing the sheets against the aligning pin 54.

When the collator is ready to index for the next cycle of operation, the alignment pins 54 must be retracted. For this purpose, the alignment pins 54 are spring urged downwardly against and are supported by cams 211 (FIG. 5) which are driven from the idler shaft 86 synchronously with the indexing drive. The pins 54are retracted in response to rotation of the cams 211 just prior to indexing of the main drive chains 40 and 42 to allow the booklets to be indexed to the stapling station 52 Without interference.

STlTCHING OR STAPLING The booklets are again jogged and aligned against the second set of aligning pins 56 at the stapling station 52 so that they are held in proper alignment as they are stitched, or stapled. The stitcher, kor stapler device 60 may be of conventional or any desired construction. As shown, it is driven by a pair of crank wheels 212 (FIGS. 5 and 10) which are fixed at opposite ends of an auxiliary transverse shaft 214. The auxiliary transverse shaft 214 is chain driven at a l to 1 ratio from the idler shaft 86 synchronously with the main indexing drive of the machine. The second aligning pins 56 rest 4on cams 216 iixed on the auxiliary shaft 214, and are raised and retracted similarly to and synchronously with the rst alignment pins 54.

DELIVERY MECHANISM After the booklets are stapled at the stapling station 52, they are advanced to the delivery chute 58, and, on the succeeding indexing step, to the delivery fork 62, which is shown in detail apart from the other 'operative components of the collator in FIG. 8. The delivery fork 62 is actuated through a lever 230 and a push rod 228 by a cam 220, which-is fixed to the auxiliary transverse shaft 214. The fork 62 is fixed toa shaft 222, which is pivoted between a pair of brackets 224 and spaced outwardly from the delivery end of the table 30. A crank arm 226 is fixed to the shaft 222, and connected by the push rod 228 to the lever 230, which is pivoted at one end upon the main frame 'of the machine, and which carries a cam follower 232 at its opposite end. The cam follower 232 rides on the cam 220, and is spring-urged into engagement with the cam by any desired means such as the spring 234 illustrated. When the lever 230 is raised by the cam, the push rod raises the crank arm -226 -to drive the delivery fork from its normal position to its delivery position shown in dashed lines, and when the cam falls, the spring 234 returns the delivery fork 62 -to its retracted positionto accept the next succeeding booklet.

What is claimed is:

1. A collating machine comprising an elongated central table, magazines aligned along said table for holding stacks of sheets to be collated, feed means for feeding sheets from said magazines onto said table, means for advancing sheets along said table, an aligning device for aligning sheets on said table after they have been deposited thereon and advanced beyond said magazines, said table having an aperture therein, said aligning device including an Iabutment stop extendable upwardly through said aperture, and means beneath said table for alternately supporting said stop in a raised position partly above said table and retracting said stop to a lowered position beneath the surface of said table, a fastening device for fastening sheets together in booklet form after they have been aligned by said aligning device, and drive means for driving said feed means, said advancing means, said aligning device, said supporting means, and said fastening device in predetermined timed relationship to each other.

2. A collating machine comprising an elongated central table, magazines aligned along said table for holding stacks of sheets to be collated, feed means for feeding sheets from said magazines onto said table, means for advancing sheets along said table, an aligning device for aligning sheets on said table after they have been deposited thereon and advanced beyond said magazines, said table having an aperture therein, said aligning device including an abutment stop extendable upwardly through said aperture, means beneath said table for alternately supporting said stop in a raised position partly above said table and retracting said stop to a lowered position beneath the surface of said table, side rails movable transversely relative to said table and positioned along the edges 'of said table adjacent to said abutment stop, and means for oscillating said rails at a rapid rate relative to the rate of advance toward and away from each other thereby to jog the sheets between them, a fastening device for fastening sheets together in booklet form after they have been aligned by said aligning device, and drive means for driving said feed means, said advancing means, said aligning device, said supporting means, and said fastening device in predetermined timed relationship to each other.

3. A collating machine comprising an elongated central table, magazines aligned along said table for holding stacks of sheets to be collated, feed means for feding sheets from said magazines onto said table, means for advancing sheets -along said table, an aligning device for aligning sheets on said table after they have been deposited thereon and advanced beyond said magazines, said table having an aperture therein, said aligning device including an abutment stop extendable upwardly through said aperture, means beneath said table for alternately supporting said stop in a raised position partly above said table and retracting said stop to a lowered position beneath the surface of said table, side rails movable transversely relative to said table Vand positioned along the edge of said table adjacent to said abutment stop and to said fastening device, and means for oscillating said rails -at a relatively rapid rate compared to the rate of advance toward and away from each other to jog sheets on said table between said rails both at said abutment stop and at said fastening means thereby to align the sheets in the transverse direction and to keep them aligned while they are fastened together by said fastening means, a fastening device for fastening sheets together in booklet form after they have been aligned by said aligning device, and drive means for driving said feed means, said advancing means, said aligning device, said supporting means, and said fastening device in predetermined timed relationship to each other.

4. A sheet collator comprising:

(a) an elongated table,

(b) sheet supply magazines arranged alongside said table,

(c) means for delivering sheets from said magazines to said table,

(d) means for advancing sheets along said table,

(e) aligning means for aligning groups of sheets after they accumulate on said table, said aligning means including:

(l) a rectractable stop mounted adjacent to said table at a point therealong beyond the last one of said magazines, said stop being movable from a position in which it intercepts a group of sheets being advanced by said advancing means means to a position in which it releases a group so intercepted, and

(2) drive means for reciprocating said stop between said two positions at a rate synchronized with the operation of said advancing means,

(f) a fastening device for fastening groups of sheets after they have been laligned by said aligning means and while they are held in aligment thereby.

5. A sheet collating apparatus comprising (a) an elongated table,

(b) sheet magazines aligned in registered array along opposite sides of said table,

(c) feed rolls rotatably mounted between said magazines and said tables,

(d)` pusher means supported above each of said magazines for pushing the top sheets therein toward said feed rolls,

(e) means for driving said pusher means, said driving means being arranged to provide a time lag between the operation of said pusher means 'at one side of said table and said pusher means at the opposite side of said table, whereby sheets fed onto said table from said one side 4always fall under sheets fed from said opposite side,

(f) indexing means for advancing sheets along said table and off one end thereof,

(g) dynamic jogger means for aligning groups of sheets on said table between said magazines and said one end of said table, said jogger means including (l) a retractable abutment stop for engaging the leading edge of a group of sheets and holding the group against the urging of said indexing means,

(2) a pair of parallel flanges resting on said table at opposite respective sides thereof, and

(3) means for oscillating said flanges toward and away from each other at a rapid rate relative to the rate of said indexing means, and

(h) a fastening device for securing groups of sheets together while they are being jogged by said jogger means and being kept in alignment thereby.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,137,157 4/ 15 Mahlstedt 271-89 1,441,278 1/ 32 Halvorsen 270-55 1,865,308 6/ 32 Evans et al 271-89 2,479,060 8/49 Davidson 270-58 2,829,888 4/58 Thomas 270-58 2,885,203 5/59 Kalish 270-58 3,071,369 1/63 Ambrogi 270-58 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT E. PULFREY, Examiner. 

1. A COLLATING MACHINE COMPRISING AN ELONGATED CENTRAL TABLE, MAGAZINES ALIGNED ALONG SAID TABLE FOR HOLDING STACKS OF SHEETS TO BE COLLATED, FEED MEANS FOR FEEDING SHEETS FROM SAID MAGAZINES ONTO SAID TABLE, MEANS FOR ADVANCING SHEETS ALONG SAID TABLE, AN ALIGNING DEVICE FOR ALIGNING SHEETS ON SAID TABLE AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN DEPOSITED THEREON AND ADVANCED BEYOND SAID MAGAZINES, SAID TABLE HAVING AN APERTURE THEREIN, SAID ALIGNING DEVICE INCLUDING AN ABUTMENT STOP EXTENDABLE UPWARDLY THROUGH SAID APERTURE, AND MEANS BENEATH SAID TABLE FOR ALTERNATELY SUPPORTING SAID STOP IN A RAISED POSITION PARTLY ABOVE SAID TABLE AND RETRACTING SAID STOP TO A LOWERED POSITION BENEATH THE SURFACE OF SAID TABLE, A FASTENING DEVICE FOR FASTENING SHEETS TOGETHER IN BOOKLET FORM AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN ALIGNED BY SAID ALIGNING DEVICE, SAID DRIVE MEANS FOR DRIVING SAID FEED MEANS, SAID ADVANCING MEANS, SAID ALIGNING DEVICE, SAID SUPPORTING MEANS, AND SAID FASTENING DEVICE IN PREDETERMINED TIMED RELATIONSHIP TO EACH OTHER. 